Birthday Suprise
by neko-hime-4ever
Summary: It's Kagome's birthday, and guess who decides not to show up. The one with the best present of all! One-shot


Hello all my fine readers!! How is every one? I got ALL my info back!! This, unfortunately, isn't one of my first stories, but a one shot I came up with a while back and just now put into the PC! Lazy me………..Newho, on with the story!!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and co. DON'T belong to me. But I can dream if I wish, AND create stories to torture them to INSANITY!!!! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahem, blushes sorry, on with the fic.

Birthday Surprise

By: Kitti

The odd group of humans and demons sat quietly in the clearing, the fire, the only light in the darkness. The moon was high, giving plenty of light to the forest surrounding the small glade. This would be most beautiful to any newcomers, but after two years of traveling, the "family of friends" had grown quite accustomed to these sites. It was truly stunning tonight, yet, the anxiety in the air was too thick to let them appreciate. One of them was missing, but not lost. In fact, he voluntarily left.

"How long has he been gone?" asked the raven haired taijya, stroking the small fire cat in her lap.

"I don't know, Sango, about two hours. Is that right Lady Kagome?" asked the purple clad houshi, Miroku.

"Yeah sounds right." she answered looking at the sleeping kit in her lap. '_But it's not like I care, right? He does this all the time. Stupid Inuyasha! You always run to Kikyo. Can't you care enough to stay, just for me?' _she thought while silent tears rolled down her face.

"Kagome," Sango called, "It's late. Do you want to go on to bed? We can eat this tomorrow."

Kagome turned to her, all traces of forlorn gone. "No, we will eat it now. After all, it won't be my birthday tomorrow, will it?" she said, setting Shippo down gently and moving to her friends.

"Yes, but I thought you wanted to surprise Inuyasha with the cake." said Miroku, "Will he miss it?"

"Yeah, too bad, but more for us!" stated Kagome, overly cheerful, "Let's eat!"

"Ok, Happy 17th Birthday, Kagome!" said Sango, happily.

"Yes, you are becoming an old woman now!" laughed Miroku.

"Oh really now?" she looked at him mischievously "Could an old woman do this?" she took the cake she had in her hand and pushed it in Miroku's face.

"That was _not_ a smart move!" said Miroku, grinning when he saw Sango not looking, then mimicked Kagome's exploit on her

"Why you little…." She reached for some cake, when Miroku pointed at Kagome. Sango grinned as Kagome caught on and fled for Shippo, using him as a shield as they threw the cake.

"What's going on?" asked Shippo, groggily wiping the cake off his front.

"We are just playing a game," she said, smashing cake in his face, "Care to join?"

Shippo smirked, "You should have invited me in the first place! I'll teach you to mess with the Great Fox Demon!!(A/N: I LOVE that phrase! The Great Shippo!! It's too cute!!)". He leaped for Miroku, and the girls followed suit. Thirty minutes and a BIG mess later, they finally tired out and decided to actually eat the remaining cake. They were in silence until Shippo HAD to ask the question:

"Where is Inuyasha? Doesn't he know it is your birthday?" he said, innocence spread across his sweet face.

"Yes, but he went to see Kikyo tonight. That's where!" Kagome snapped to no one in particular.

"Kagome," said Sango, "Please don't get mad. Not tonight."

"Your right, Sango," she said, tears now visible in her eyes, "If he wants to be with that bitchy, soul stealing, zombified, rotting piece of dirt and bones, and miss my birthday, so be it."

"Kagome...." said Miroku, looking as though someone hit him in the face with a 2x4. Kagome cussed. He had heard Kagome mad, but this was new even to him.

"NO! I take it back, I will rant," she yelled, stamping back and forth in her fury, "I'm sick of his stupid antics. I'm sick of his lies. I'm sick of his disloyalties and indecision!! He leads me on then runs to Kikyo, while I stay loyal to him! Maybe I should tell Koga I want to be his mate, or go back and tell Hojo that I'll go out with him!! At least they both give a rat's ass about my feelings!!"

The group stood in awe at the once gentle, kind and loving Kagome as she tried to kill the ground with her shoes. Tears of rage and bottled emotions ran in rivers down her face. All of them, even Kirara, were worried. What caused her to snap this way? Oh, wait, it _was_ her birthday. Never mind, reason found.

"Kagome," said Sango, "You don't mean that."

"Yes I do! I'm......" Kagome gasped as she heard a rustling in the brush behind her. A tall man with silver hair, on which perched two dog ears, and wearing a red haroi emerged from the forest. Inuyasha's face was twisted in a jumble of emotions, pain and sorrow the greatest.

"K….Kagome? I…." he started.

"NO! Just don't……don't talk to me!" yelled Kagome, running into the forest.

Inuyasha let his head collapse onto his chest. 'Damn, I did it again. You'd think I'd learn not to hurt her.' He looked up as he suddenly realized the eight pairs of eyes on him.

"What!?" he snarled.

"Well, are you happy now? She's crying" said Miroku, bluntly.

"Shut up! Mind your own business!" Inuyasha growled.

"You're such an idiot, Inuyasha!" said Shippo, jumping in front of the group, "How can you do that to her?"

"Watch it, runt. I will hurt you." Inuyasha growled, cracking the bones in his hands as a warning.

"Do you delight in tormenting her?" he continued, showing no fear, "She doesn't deserve it, the way you treat her as a toy! You're nothing but a two-timing dog."

Miroku and Sango were staring in disbelief. "Shippo," said Miroku, "That's enough. Don't antagonize him."

"You know," he continued ranting, "It really is a shame that she is _sooo_ in love with you. She _could_ be better off with Kouga or Hojo. You know, if I was old enough, _I_ would court her. She likes me better, anyways! I wouldn't treat her like that. At least I would be a good mate!"

No one saw it coming. In a blink of an eye, Inuyasha had Shippo pinned to the ground, fangs and claws bared, eyes bleeding red, Sango and Miroku jumping forward to stop him, but Shippo held out a tiny clawed hand, telling them to stop their advance.

Shippo started again, choosing to ignore the large claws poised at his throat. "She is the best thing all of us have, and she loves you unconditionally. And you love her too, don't you, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha's face calmed a bit, his claws lowering slightly.

"She loves you and _only_ you. Go get her before someone else does, you stupid mutt!" Shippo said in a voice too deep to be the child they had all got to know.

The red receded, and the growling stopped. Inuyasha got up, picking Shippo up off the ground. They looked at each other for a moment, the stare of a student who just told the teacher how the world works. In that look, a million words passed and nothing was said. Inuyasha smirked a bit, "Thanks, kid" he said, ruffling Shippo's hair before taking off after the girl of his dreams.

Sango ran and picked up Shippo, surveying for damage. "Are you ok? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"What did you do, Shippo? Why did he act like that?" asked Miroku.

"Sango, lemme' go! Your worst than Kagome, I'm fine!" he said struggling out of her grip. "All, I did, Miroku, was make him realize what he already knew. I just hope he doesn't blow it."

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Inuyasha ran though the forest; following the scent of the lost girl he had come to love. He had screwed up, and he knew it. He could only hope she would forgive him again. He had to explain himself, he had to explain the reason he went to see Kikyo. Tears almost came to his eyes as he remembered their recent conversation:

_Inuyasha had followed the soul-stealing demon to a clearing, where the woman he once gave his heart to stood. The demon deposited the soul to her and flew off as she turned around to face him. Her long ebony locks hung loosely at her shoulders, moving slightly with the turning of her body. Her priestess robes, almost too big for her, shown dully against the pale moon. She smiled at him, almost giving him chills._

"_Inuyasha, I'm glad you came. There is something I need to tell you." She said, looking intent on the subject to come._

"_I need to talk to you, too" said Inuyasha, refusing to meet her glance._

"_I'll go first then," Kikyo said, turning to face the moon, "The jewel is almost complete and my time almost up."_

"_What do you mean 'times almost up'" Inuyasha asked confused. In response, Kikyo lifted the sleeve of her hakama to show her arm. Inuyasha gasped. The skin on her arm was wrinkled, dry, and gray, the color of ash. _

"_K…Kikyo? What's happening to you?" Inuyasha asked eyes wide with horror._

"_This body can no longer linger in this world. It is rejecting most souls. I am returning to the soil and ash in which I started. My soul will have to go to hell soon" she gazed at him with a stone face, "That is what I wanted to talk to you about...."_

"_Kikyo! Wait! That is what I needed..." Inuyasha was cut off._

"_I don't want you to go with me" she stated bluntly._

"_What?" he fixed her with a bewildered stare._

"_I don't want you to go with me, not when your heart visibly belongs to another. You need to stay with Kagome. What we had all those years ago, the memories and feelings, they reside with her now. I will not be the one to stand in your path to happiness any longer. Inuyasha, I relinquish your vow to me, on the condition you treat Kagome right eternally." Kikyo stared at Inuyasha smiling._

"_Kikyo, I don't know what to say. You really mean your gonna let me live?"_

"_You are happy with her, as you once were with me. I am grateful to her for making you smile as you once did with me. Give her this as a token of my gratitude." She held out her hand to Inuyasha and dropped in his two small bracelets made of stones and prayer beads. "You wear one and she wears its mate. They are bonded, just as you two are. She will live as long as you do, and gain abilities such as healing faster and heightened senses. It will be very useful later on."_

_Inuyasha looked at the beads then at Kikyo, "You're not playing, huh? Kikyo, thank you so much. Believe it or not, I think I love Kagome. I was going to ask her to be my mate tonight. But I had to clear it with you first, and come to find out, you agreed. Kikyo, you are one of the best things in my life, you know that, right?"_

"_I know, Inuyasha, quit blabbering. Now go, go and ask her to be your wife, mate, whatever just ask her. I know she will say yes." Kikyo smiled as she motioned for him to leave._

_He started to leave but turned around, smiled at the dying woman, and said, "Good bye, Kikyo." Two seconds later, he was out of sight and off to get the girl._

'_I have to find Kagome. Everyone is right, I love that silly girl! I love Kagome Higurashi! Now, how am I gonna tell her that?_' Inuyasha thought as he raced though the foliage in the night.

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Kagome ran, not caring where she ended up, only that she had to get away. She couldn't talk to him, not now, not after he'd seen _her_. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about him choosing to go to Kikyo instead of staying for her birthday. Her _birthday_, for gods' sake! He was there the last year when she turned 16, so why not now, at a bigger mark in life? He is such a jerk!

'_And yet you will forgive him, won't you?' _said theawful little voice in her head.

She stopped and sat on a rock, "What do you know?" she half asked, half pouted, plopping her head in her hands.

'_Everything, remember, I'm you! Anyway, we all know how this will work. He will find you, say he's sorry, and you will look in his eyes and forgive him. Don't deny it. You know you will!'_ it answered.

"But, how can I not? That's what you do when you…when you love someone." She said looking down at her feet.

'_You love him, and yet he loves Kikyo. How can you forgive him knowing that?_' the voice hissed.

"I just can, ok! I love him and not Kikyo or anyone else can change that!" Kagome yelled into the night.

The voice suddenly changed, an older woman spoke now, '_I'm glad you have that faith, Kagome. You will need it. Believe in him, and you will be just fine.' _Then, the voice faded with the wind.

"Kikyo?" asked Kagome quietly, more to herself than any one. A sudden movement and a familiar aura alerted her to the new presence.

"Hello, Inuyasha" she said without turning around.

"Kagome, please, hear me out! I need to talk to you" he said frantically.

She stood and turned, genuinely smiling at him "About what?"

He inhaled deeply before continuing, "About us. About what we feel for each other."

Kagome's eyes widened. What was he getting at? Was he gonna tell her that…NO! He wouldn't do that. "Well, what do you feel?"

"I was hoping you'd go first, but I guess not. Well, here goes. Kagome, first off, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have gone today, but I had too! You see, when I went, Kikyo and I talked. I said something and….oh gods, she's dying, Kagome. She's dying and she doesn't want me to go with her. She wants me to stay here" he said tears about to flow over his smooth features.

Kagome had barely heard him. Kikyo was dying, and she wanted Inuyasha to live? Why did that sound wrong? What about his promise? "Why? I thought she….."

"She wants me to stay here….with you" he stared at the ground to avoid her stare. It didn't work. He could feel her eyes burning into his head as if to see if his words were true.

"You're not playing? Do you really want to stay with me, or is this because Kikyo said to?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"WHAT!!??" he bellowed, "How could you think that? I'm staying to be with you! Not cause of what Kikyo said, because _I_ want to be with you!! How could I not want to be with a perfect girl? I…huh? Why are you crying?" he asked, smelling the salt of her tears.

Her shoulders shook as tears streamed down her face, "Inuyasha, thank you. Thank you so much. I didn't mean it like that, I'm just surprised."

He sighed, smiling as he held his hand to her. "Come on, let's not fight anymore. It's still your birthday, and I got you a present! That is what you do in your time, right?"

Kagome used the back of one of her hands to wipe away her tears and the other to grasp his hand. He gently pulled her to him, bringing her close to his body, yet touching nothing except her hands. He pulled away, reaching into his haroi and pulling out a small leaf wrapped package. He handed it to her, holding his breath and thinking: 'This is it. Either she accepts me or rejects me.'

She opened it, smiling so big he thought her face would split. The first glimmer showed and Kagome gasped. It was a hair clip adorned with gold and diamonds, ruby's, emeralds, heck there was every stone under the sun on that thing! Her eyes were huge "Inuyasha…. It's…" she turned it over and saw writing etched into the back. Her heart raced as she read it:

Kagome,

Thank you for staying with me

My love forever,

Inuyasha

Those simple words nearly made her heart explode. He said he loved her!!!

He got nervous, twiddling his thumbs as he watched her stare at the writing he himself put there. '_No! She's gonna turn me down! Shit, how do I do this?' _He looked at the mix of emotions on her face flying faster than even he could read. He closed his eyes and bowed his head to stave off the tears. He couldn't handle it! Not another woman he's gonna lose! Please, Kami, don't let it happen. He barely heard her move, not comprehending what she was doing.

"Inuyasha?" she asked moving to him. Was he crying?

"Inuyasha, I love you, too" she stated.

His head jerked up, a huge smile covering his face as he rushed to her picking her up and spinning her around in his embrace. They were both laughing, out right laughing, something neither of them had done in many moons. He set her down, face flushed and breathless. He held on to her tight, afraid she would disappear as she had in many a nightmare. But no, this time she was real, and she was staying with him. Not with Hobo or Koga, but him.

"Do you know how long I have wanted you to say that?" he asked setting his head on hers.

"Not nearly as long as I have!" said Kagome, "Oh, I don't care! We said it, its in the open. That's what matters."

"Yes," he whispered, "Oh, god Kagome, you have no idea how happy I am!" Inuyasha said laughing.

"I bet I'm hap-.." she was cut off by Inuyasha crushing his lips to hers. He moved his hands to rest on her hips as she moved hers to his arms, strengthening their embrace. Finally, the kiss broke from lack of air.

"You talk to much, wench" he said smirking at her. Her eyes were half closed and her lips were slightly parted.

"I'll shut up now." She whispered.

"You bet you will" he said, leaning to kiss her again.

A rustle from the bushes snapped them out of their reverie. Who was it? None other than….

"There you two are!! We got worried when you didn't come back, so I came and…Oh! Did I interrupt something?" Miroku asked lecherously.

They jumped apart, blushing madly. Inuyasha was growling, and Kagome had found the hem of her skirt VERY interesting at that time. Inuyasha spoke first.

"You have 5 seconds to run. I'm not gonna tell you what I'm gonna do cause your not gonna like it. 1…2…."

Miroku didn't wait. Inuyasha motioned for Kagome to get on his back and they took off into the night after the monk. Half way back to the camp site, he stopped on a branch and let Kagome down.

"One more thing," he said, reaching into his haori and pulling out the bracelets, "Before I left, Kikyo gave me these. She said that if I wear one and you wear the other, you can gain abilities like I have." He handed her the smaller one.

"Inuyasha, are you sure?" she asked, slipping it over her tiny wrist.

"I'm positive. Never take it off, ok?"

"Ok!" she said, smiling

"Now, let's go back to the camp. There's a monk there who needs to meet my fist….."

swims to the top of a HUGE pile of cotton balls To…much…fluff….Well, there you have it! That's the story folks! I am SSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry about all the OOC-ness. I'm not very good at this, yet! Bear with me though. My other stories are on there way, including chapters from the older stories!! Well, till next time!

REVIEW!!!!! Oh! BTW……

I LAUGH IN THE FACE OF FLAMES!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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